Papaya Rues a Ferrari win at home in Monza - 2024 Italian GP Review

[00:00:19] Man, this is yet another Ferrari Monza special. Fred Vassir has worked his magic.

[00:00:26] Yes, Ferrari has changed as a unit. They want to be more consistent.

[00:00:30] They want to be more equal around all the circuits.

[00:00:33] But what have they done today, Kunal?

[00:00:35] They have now won a race at the most high-downforce circuit in Formula One, at Monza, at Monaco,

[00:00:41] and now the most low-downforce circuit in Formula One, at Monza.

[00:00:45] This, this is the Ferrari I know and love.

[00:00:47] This is what Ferrari has made of. 100%.

[00:00:50] It's either 100% downforce or 0% downforce, right?

[00:00:54] And all the other tracks that come in the middle, you know, middle ranges of downforce requirements.

[00:00:59] No, we'll just be there, it seems like.

[00:01:01] But of course, we're having fun. We're celebrating Ferrari winning at home

[00:01:05] in Monza with their blue-eyed boy, Charles Leclerc.

[00:01:09] My goodness, that was some win.

[00:01:11] That Italian anthem playing on that beautiful, most celebrated podium of modern time in Formula

[00:01:20] One was incredible. About 100,000 people underneath with all those big Ferrari flags.

[00:01:27] And I actually have a question which, you know, ever since I started watching Formula One,

[00:01:31] which was now a long time ago, I used to wonder,

[00:01:34] hey, if I've paid so much money to go and watch that race, I'm standing there.

[00:01:40] And what if they just put a flag over my head? Do I get to see it?

[00:01:43] That's so true. That's so true.

[00:01:46] I can't even imagine what it must be like for those people.

[00:01:49] But, you know, we had the opportunity to see what it was like back in Chennai,

[00:01:54] where we were there for the first ever night street race in India,

[00:01:58] for the Indian Racing League in Indian F4 championship.

[00:02:00] And I was commentating along with Sundaram and also Karun Chandog's brother,

[00:02:04] Suhail, who's an excellent broadcaster by himself.

[00:02:06] And so he learned a WhatsApp message from Karun Chandog in the middle of one of our Formula Four

[00:02:10] races, where he basically got sent a picture of Karun on the podium.

[00:02:15] And you can see his smile even though he's not the driver.

[00:02:19] Because look at the crowd, look at the emotion,

[00:02:21] look at the passion that was there at that point.

[00:02:24] This is all Ferrari and I love this, right?

[00:02:26] We're now building up to such a great surge of emotions, Sundaram.

[00:02:29] Only to now see Ferrari finish eighth and ninth in Baku.

[00:02:32] That is a true Ferrari special.

[00:02:34] I think that would be classic Ferrari, but you're absolutely right.

[00:02:39] Seeing thousands of spectators there literally and especially on that main street

[00:02:44] is incredible to see.

[00:02:46] And at one point it almost felt like there were more people at Monza on that main street

[00:02:50] than we had people celebrating the T20 World Cup win in Mumbai.

[00:02:54] It was that crowded.

[00:02:56] It was that crowded.

[00:02:58] But it just goes to show how much the Italians love Formula One,

[00:03:02] despite all the trouble that Ferrari tend to have from every now and then.

[00:03:08] They've not won a championship in a very long time, but that loyalty,

[00:03:12] it speaks for itself.

[00:03:16] And one thing I actually wanted to mention, the roster for 2025 for Ferrari,

[00:03:22] all of them have won their home races this season.

[00:03:25] The Clare Monaco, Hamilton at Silverstone and Ferrari at Monza.

[00:03:30] So they've actually got all the important races.

[00:03:33] They've won their important races this season.

[00:03:34] So I think Ferrari is done.

[00:03:36] Like you mentioned, they could be eighth, ninth, tenth,

[00:03:39] wherever in Baku or the rest of the races,

[00:03:40] but they've hit their targets for the year.

[00:03:46] So because of all the wonderful work you guys did

[00:03:50] in Chennai for the Indian Racing League,

[00:03:53] this podcast is actually coming to you guys on the Monday.

[00:03:55] A very supportive old listener, if I may call it that,

[00:04:02] reminded me that today is Monday.

[00:04:04] Okay. And I said, yeah, okay, we're already a day late for the podcast.

[00:04:08] But you guys are doing fantastic work.

[00:04:10] The voices of motorsport,

[00:04:12] the voices of the first ever night race of the Indian Racing League

[00:04:18] that's now being very, very popular in India with very well-known celebrity team owners,

[00:04:24] as we've seen in most other sports as well.

[00:04:26] But switching focus to that one big celebrity who won at home in Monza,

[00:04:32] for Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, some really interesting memes that have come out there saying,

[00:04:38] of course, Charles said, I've won in Monaco and I've won in Monza.

[00:04:41] And that's it.

[00:04:42] You know, like Sundaram said, I've hit my targets for the year.

[00:04:46] Clearly races that begin with the words mon

[00:04:50] is where his focus to win is maybe that was a target

[00:04:53] that Ferrari, you know, sort of put out there for him saying.

[00:04:57] So Montreal's next.

[00:04:59] Montreal's next.

[00:05:02] I hope they don't have to wait that long.

[00:05:04] But Ferrari actually, you know, Charles Leclerc was joking saying we won in Monaco

[00:05:07] and then we went on to have the four worst races of my career ever in Ferrari.

[00:05:12] And now he's hoping that doesn't happen with Baku and Singapore coming up.

[00:05:16] Although they believe that Baku and Singapore is where they will be competitive.

[00:05:23] And if at all their upgrades get exposed, like most upgrades are getting exposed,

[00:05:28] it will be only Austin, which is like a normal racing circuit when things might just not work

[00:05:34] out for Ferrari.

[00:05:35] So I'm pretty optimistic.

[00:05:36] I love the fact.

[00:05:38] I love two things from Monza.

[00:05:39] First is Charles Leclerc and that incredible stint he put on those hard tires.

[00:05:48] That was absolutely beautiful.

[00:05:50] I mean, typically we've seen Ferrari be fast on the Saturday and then just going

[00:05:55] backwards on the Sunday.

[00:05:56] Right.

[00:05:56] But this Ferrari for the second race in a row, Charles Leclerc has used the alternate strategy

[00:06:02] to gain positions and finish on the podium.

[00:06:07] And then the second thing was when last we had a race apart from Singapore last year,

[00:06:12] where Red Bull Racing was only the fourth fastest team by a distance.

[00:06:17] Yeah.

[00:06:18] It feels like we're in 2008 all over again and we should touch up upon Red Bull in a second.

[00:06:24] After 10 minutes, we got to celebrate this win.

[00:06:29] I mean, you have a Michael Schumacher flag right behind you.

[00:06:32] I do.

[00:06:32] You're a Tifosi and living in Mumbai.

[00:06:35] And I've also got a Red Bull die-cast car that also reminds me a lot of what they

[00:06:40] were like in Monza this weekend just stuck in one place and packed in a box

[00:06:43] because that's what their race was like.

[00:06:45] But we'll come to Red Bull in a second.

[00:06:48] But the reason, actually not the reason, the way we should celebrate Leclerc's win

[00:06:52] is by telling you how special it was and why they could also be so good

[00:06:56] in Baku and Singapore particularly.

[00:06:59] This race was one where Ferrari won not on raw pace, but on tire management.

[00:07:04] That's something that their technical director said at the start of the season as well.

[00:07:08] We want to make this car more balanced and better at tire management

[00:07:11] and also better at straight line speed.

[00:07:13] The two things that they absolutely nailed this weekend.

[00:07:17] But the whole surrounding element around it is how did Leclerc not end up having as much

[00:07:23] deck compared to McLaren who, comparatively, were much faster, locked out one and two,

[00:07:28] set in one of the fastest lap times, even got the fastest lap at the end if I'm not mistaken.

[00:07:33] So how did Ferrari and Leclerc in particular, A-stess, compare to all the McLaren's?

[00:07:38] It's a very interesting question because typically when we go to circuits,

[00:07:42] not the outlier ones like say Monaco or Monza, everything else in the middle of that,

[00:07:48] the usual narrative in Formula One is the more wing you take, the better your tire degradation

[00:07:55] is or the lower your tire degradation is because the wings are avoiding or they're

[00:08:00] stopping your tires from sliding especially in the high-speed sequences.

[00:08:04] But in Monza it was actually the reverse because Ferrari chose and they were very

[00:08:10] proud to have chosen a very low-wing, low-downforce configuration setup whereas McLaren

[00:08:15] chose a slightly more downforce setup. So the Ferrari was gaining a tenth,

[00:08:20] so basically Leclerc was gaining a tenth on the straights on the McLaren's each lap

[00:08:26] and the McLaren's were then gaining a little more time or gaining some time back

[00:08:30] through the corners because of the wings they had. But in Monza, if you're carrying

[00:08:36] more speeds through the corners, you're actually stressing the tires out more. So in effect,

[00:08:40] Ferrari just benefited by not having that much more wings so they took the corners slower

[00:08:46] and Alex Brundle did a wonderful explanation of Leclerc's driving style at Monza and how

[00:08:54] this was on Sky Sports, right? By the way, thank you for the shout out Sky Sports for our

[00:09:00] helmet Marco episode last week. Appreciate the fact that you linked to our original episode

[00:09:05] as well. Not all media houses are genuinely kind about this, right? So thank you. But that Alex

[00:09:11] Brundle sequence is wonderful to follow because the one thing you absolutely need to do in Monza

[00:09:17] is break in the straight line and then accelerate in the straight line. And that's what Charles

[00:09:22] Leclerc was doing each time and for those who love the numbers, we've actually pasted some of

[00:09:27] these graphs in our WhatsApp chat. You can find it in the description of this episode if you

[00:09:31] want to join the WhatsApp channel. But Leclerc from before lap 33 onwards, so more than half of

[00:09:39] the race, Sambalan Sundaram, his target lap time was 123,500. So one minute, 23 seconds,

[00:09:47] you know, and 23 and a half seconds. And he's done every single lap within half a second

[00:09:53] of that target lap. And that consistency was one of the most beautiful things to follow

[00:10:00] throughout the race in Monza. It wasn't the most exciting race, not the most number of overtakes,

[00:10:06] but you have to dig deeper through these layers of data to actually find your narratives. And we

[00:10:11] presented this live in the post-race broadcast on Viya Play this weekend. That's a very interesting

[00:10:16] point that you mentioned. But also kind of just looking at some data. The start of the race,

[00:10:23] the asphalt temperature was somewhere near 50 degrees. And towards the end, it just

[00:10:27] continuously kept falling further lower and lower. And towards the end, it was somewhere closer to 42.

[00:10:33] And that is prime McLaren area where they're able to use their tyres much better in cooler

[00:10:39] temperatures. So even when everything probably seemed like would be in the favour, it really

[00:10:44] wasn't. So a brilliant drive by Leclerc and very being extremely consistent on those hard

[00:10:49] ties, I still have to do a little bit of digging to understand how he managed to do that.

[00:10:53] But I'm sure I'm going to be very, very surprised about AC.

[00:10:56] But this is great from what Charles Leclerc has. This is great from Charles Leclerc in terms of

[00:11:02] his driving. Everything that he's done to operationally nail it. And we saw the pressure,

[00:11:07] we saw the focus that he was in towards the final part of the race where Ferrari kept on giving

[00:11:11] him instructions and he said, no, not now. I need to focus on what I'm doing. But on the

[00:11:16] opposite side, a race won by someone is also a race lost by someone else. And this feels to

[00:11:22] me like a gift from working to Maranello, the opposite of what we had in 2007 when the drawings

[00:11:28] got leaked and went over to working. This is a fresh hot plate handed over to them. Ferrari

[00:11:35] winning is such a big thing. They've just given them that gift at their home race with both

[00:11:39] hands. I cannot fathom how this has happened. I you know, one of my favourite things to do

[00:11:45] after I'm done with work, just grab a drink sit down, chat with your friends. It's all

[00:11:49] about taking a snapshot in time and just looking back at it and realizing how things could have

[00:11:54] been different from that moment. We as friends talk about any random stuff about football,

[00:11:59] about how Man United could have been a better team of dead boys had better players, so on and so

[00:12:02] forth. But then this particular moment, I want to take a snapshot of that grid and that first

[00:12:08] lap to see not as first, pedestrian second, look like third, and then McLaren having so

[00:12:14] many fastest laps. How do you bottle it from there? How would you explain it to a random

[00:12:20] individual who's just time travel canal to tell them that this is what happened eventually?

[00:12:25] So one of the easiest explanations is that the pre race tyre models indicated that it's going

[00:12:31] to be a two stop strategy come what may. So McLaren was driving two target lap times. They were

[00:12:37] actually 0.3 seconds quicker, so 3 tenths of a second quicker Piazz 3 versus you know

[00:12:45] Charles Leclerc every single lap. But that also meant that Piazz 3 was using his tyres up that

[00:12:51] much more. For again those interested in the numbers and I have some numbers from Formula

[00:12:57] 1 themselves. I think Piazz 3's race tyre degradation was 0.027 seconds per lap and this

[00:13:08] is how minor the margins get. So remember the numbers 0.027, but what was Leclerc's degradation

[00:13:16] variable out there? His degradation variable was 0.025, so it was 0.02 seconds per lap lower degradation

[00:13:27] than McLaren. These are numbers from Formula 1 right which means they've also gotten it from

[00:13:32] Pirelli but the beauty is Sundaram that they are able to they of course track and they are

[00:13:39] able to share such minute details that went into victory, that went into giving them the win itself

[00:13:48] you know on Sunday and to me the win was also you know sort of like Somil said a gift from

[00:13:55] Boking to Maranello. I also believe Oscar Piazz 3's move on Landon Norris helped Leclerc then

[00:14:07] go for that win. That win was beautiful, that was incredible but before we switch to McLaren and

[00:14:13] the gifting of the win and all of that I have to ask you guys and this is you know down to the

[00:14:19] old narratives that Ferrari is Formula 1, Formula 1 is Ferrari. Ferrari is the most important team

[00:14:24] in Formula 1 and there always seems a little bit more magic in the air, magic in the chatter

[00:14:32] when Ferrari wins a race let alone wins a race in Monza right. I love the national anthem,

[00:14:38] literally goosebumps we've all grown up to that national anthem in the Michael Schumacher days as

[00:14:43] well but I have to ask you guys which is which are your most favorite Ferrari cars in Formula

[00:14:51] 1? Doesn't have to be the ones winning some of them just just the fact that their Ferrari

[00:14:56] Formula 1 cars make them beautiful. Somil since you love history so much why don't I

[00:15:01] just put you on the spot which is your favorite Formula 1 Ferrari car and you can choose many

[00:15:06] since they've had clearly almost 70 plus. After 2008 that was beautiful with the poking

[00:15:13] aero winglets with the way the front nose just dips in curves in with the way Kimi Rai

[00:15:17] can and drove it at Spa with the way it all ended and the lovely Malbro branding as well

[00:15:24] the way they just hit it with the barcodes I love it and that season is just pure, pure

[00:15:29] vibes and also Masa at Turkey is good memories all around so that has to be the one for me.

[00:15:35] Masa at Turkey can I can I say the the 2014 car that gave for a Fernando Alonso absolutely

[00:15:42] no wins no of course not but for a person who actually loves numbers I would actually go

[00:15:48] in that direction maybe the the 2002 or the 2004 car because they were on the podium

[00:15:55] literally at every single race you were talking about this earlier today Somil

[00:16:01] he literally had breakfast here we were discussing this today morning about Michael

[00:16:05] Schumacher's records that can never be broken of the one obviously being his one in 2002 where

[00:16:12] he finished on the podium in every race so I think I'd probably go between one of those two

[00:16:18] 2002 2004 tell the world when he won the world championship in that year you need to

[00:16:23] in 2002 he won it I think on the 21st of July and the only once I think that I think that was before

[00:16:33] even the summer break and there's only one other person who's wanted before that just a couple of

[00:16:38] days earlier that I think there is one Manuel Fangio in the 1950s so no one's going to be

[00:16:42] breaking that record as well. Wow but but I was going to pick 2004 for obviously that very

[00:16:49] statistical reason and let's remember guys these are all Ferraris they're all scarlet red Ferraris

[00:16:56] of course unless you were racing in North America following it there where you actually had blue

[00:17:00] and white Ferraris as well but I've got a few favorites I think the 1996 Ferrari just the

[00:17:06] you know those cars were fragile and that the fragility of those cars really appeals to me

[00:17:13] 2004 I also loved the F60 the 60 years of Ferrari also had the barcord just that that car

[00:17:23] didn't win for Ferrari like just lots of cars haven't won I was hoping that the SF24 also turns

[00:17:30] black this weekend but maybe they're waiting for Lewis Hamilton to join before they turn that car

[00:17:36] black I guess I just remembered which other Ferrari car I love the 2007 McLaren nicely done my friend

[00:17:45] nicely done I also I also remembered the step we had we had three Ferrari cars in the top three

[00:17:52] of Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Lons and Lewis Hamilton and yeah so that's one of the better

[00:17:56] Ferrari cars that we've seen recent times yes yes Kunal yeah but you guys are also forgetting

[00:18:02] that 2024 Haas as well or the 2016 Haas has also a good Ferrari yeah 2016 Haas their first year in

[00:18:10] Formula One and I think they finished as high as fifth no I think that was the year later but yes

[00:18:16] a good start for Haas that season I loved the step nose Ferrari F2012 I think 2012 yes I love

[00:18:25] I love these special names they gave for special years because of you know 60 years of Ferrari in

[00:18:32] Formula One so F60 and now of course there's SF24 that's being raced this season but yeah

[00:18:38] someone seems very upset with the F2012 you can't love the Ferrari that gave Fernando Lons

[00:18:43] so much trauma you can't love it that much you know it's like I don't remember the trauma

[00:18:50] when it comes to Ferrari or whatever you just remember you must remember that you're very vividly

[00:18:57] I try to forget but I cannot but it also it also kind of showed that Fernando is a

[00:19:03] legend of the sport that that car in itself a car that could understeer and oversteer at the

[00:19:08] very same time it did put him up there so I can't hate it as much but I know

[00:19:15] I know he would have he should have won the title but it's okay I'll share a Fernando stat from

[00:19:21] the 2024 Italian Grand Prix a very painful one he finished one tenth away in 11th place from Kevin

[00:19:29] Mark Newsen who had a 10 second time penalty which we will of course talk about but crucially

[00:19:37] he was two seconds away from ninth place because Alexander Albin was just about there

[00:19:41] itself so Aston Martin was outraised by Haas and Williams at Monza but those are not the teams

[00:19:50] you're going to focus on Somers got a hard deadline he's been pinging saying okay 15 minutes

[00:19:55] left from now we gotta switch to McLaren quick question starting 1 2 finishing 2 and 3 making

[00:20:01] massive inroads in the constructors championship which they pretty much know is gonna be theirs

[00:20:07] unless Fahri really continues this path of resurrection in which case we're gonna have

[00:20:12] three teams battling for the constructors championship oh yes yeah that's what we all love right

[00:20:17] we don't care who wins as long as there's a battle but quick question do you Someral think that

[00:20:22] they should have inverted the drivers or they should have used team orders at any point of time

[00:20:27] to even give them a give themselves a chance in the drivers championship no

[00:20:33] even though Nico Rosberg is gonna kill me and Zach Brown for this I believe McLaren are doing

[00:20:38] the right thing by standing by their ethical code and some people say they need to take off their

[00:20:44] mask of ethics and try to be more logical and that's the debate we always tend to have in life

[00:20:48] right any husband versus wife argument you might know Kunal it's always around logic versus

[00:20:52] emotions and this is what McLaren are going through right now the logic says back one driver get

[00:20:57] them to maximize everything the other one would tail along get a one two maximize your points

[00:21:01] but that's the kind of situation McLaren are giving their drivers the opportunity to go and

[00:21:07] explore what their races are like but the only reason why they can and are able to do it is because

[00:21:13] both of their drivers are not complete drivers yet and that is McLaren's problem they have got

[00:21:18] two almost equals Oscar maybe maybe let's say and a 0.85 for Lando's is 0.9 but two nearly equal

[00:21:28] drivers but nobody is that one whole number one like a max for Slappiness so they can't back that

[00:21:34] one driver and this is something that's costing McLaren at this stage more than ever now

[00:21:38] that start Lando Norris yet another start where he's lost positions as Sundaram and I

[00:21:43] were discussing earlier not sure if he could have done much more to protect against Oscar

[00:21:48] because that was just a blinding start by Piatri which is why we love him so much and he's also

[00:21:53] gone out after the race Oscar to see that it is in part my fault as well that I didn't nudge the

[00:21:58] team enough to go for a one-stop in hindsight that is great mentality but on the other hand

[00:22:04] Lando's gone to the media and said that Oscar got too close for comfort I am in this space

[00:22:08] where I don't know if McLaren have their number one driver it's just 0.5.5 which is good for

[00:22:14] the constructors but they need someone to step up more often more consistently it's not a good

[00:22:20] problem to have now it's a bad problem to have now because yes they're adding constructors points but

[00:22:26] it sometimes goes down to their own detriment this whole ethical game that they're playing.

[00:22:32] Wow that was that was beautifully explained as a ranch but before before I respond I really

[00:22:37] want to hear what Sundaram has to say so someone is on the space where I'm glad they

[00:22:41] didn't use team orders let's hear you Sundaram. No even I'm glad they didn't use team orders and

[00:22:46] we were speaking about logic versus emotion my question is why is everyone talking so much

[00:22:52] about Lando Norris's drivers championship which is a much more difficult task than the constructors

[00:22:58] title. Logic for me seems the constructors title one they have not won in 17 years emotion

[00:23:05] is constantly running behind Lando Norris's drivers championship and at this point having two drivers

[00:23:13] more consistently giving points has to be the priority than one who has a higher chance of

[00:23:18] slipping up. McLaren is very very close to overtaking Red Bull in the constructors title but I think

[00:23:24] they really need to prioritize that on a weekend where Red Bull was starting seventh

[00:23:28] and eighth their priority should have been let's focus on a one-two if we get closer

[00:23:33] to the drivers championship then we can figure how we can give Norris every single point and it

[00:23:39] would have set a very bad precedent because PST like Somal said put in a blinding start so everything

[00:23:45] that he had done would have been undone if they felt okay let's let's swap positions because

[00:23:49] Norris has a better chance at the drivers championship you need to appreciate and

[00:23:54] and not yeah and you need really need to appreciate and give the benefit to the

[00:23:59] person who's had a better start is what I feel. I completely agree with both of y'all I absolutely

[00:24:07] hate seeing team orders in Formula One despite having grown up and loved the whole Michael

[00:24:12] Schumacher era where you know team orders were the name of the game and whatever the sport has

[00:24:16] been through and to me you know if Lando wants or Lando has to win or for that matter any

[00:24:22] driver has to win the drivers championship the first person they have to beat is their teammate

[00:24:27] right in Monza Lando Norris finally got a good start he thought he's gonna lead

[00:24:34] he was leading till he made a mistake at the exit of turn two there is a there is an on-board

[00:24:39] video from Lando Norris's Formula One has just tweeted out check out that video I see it on

[00:24:45] Twitter like I said tweeted out yeah so clearly but when you see that on board from 13 second

[00:24:50] to 20th second he actually has he goes very eager on the power delivery on that throttle

[00:24:57] okay and he's got a twitch Oscar Piastri saw that twitch and said guess what I'm gonna get

[00:25:02] get a clean exit and then attack you into the Lorocha and he did that and that was a very very

[00:25:08] ballsy move I absolutely loved what Piastri could do there and just so happens I mean

[00:25:16] Norris has to and he's himself said you know I need to first beat my teammate

[00:25:21] Oscar just had a better start and needed what he did that was so good at it but then

[00:25:26] then we should also ask the question and maybe we also know the answer now in hindsight like you

[00:25:31] know Oscar said everyone's smarter on the Monday clearly that's why we are recording on the

[00:25:35] Monday as well but you know could the McLaren drivers have risked a one-stop strategy I feel

[00:25:44] I feel there's a lack of ruthlessness which is easy for me to say sitting on my chair

[00:25:50] I get why McLaren are doing what they're doing they're following up and this is again

[00:25:55] let me frame this properly McLaren have got to where they are from where they were in the

[00:26:00] doldrums by following a great set of systems and processes processes driven by logic processes

[00:26:06] driven by data and smart decision-making at the very top level these smart decision-making

[00:26:13] metrics sometimes fail because that's where instinct works very few cases today was a case

[00:26:19] of just that where the clerk and Ferrari's instinct in a way was handed to them by McLaren

[00:26:23] boxing but that is what worked in their favor the data and the logic said tires are not working what

[00:26:29] do we do we go for a second set of tires it's a simple logical database decision and that's

[00:26:34] what's gotten McLaren so far but at that very top maybe that slight bit of ruthlessness is missing

[00:26:40] which is where in my head I feel Piastri is the future of that team build around him he's the one

[00:26:46] who's ruthless he's the one who will send that move on the outside knowing that there could be

[00:26:51] consequences but I want to be the one taking it I'm not going to bottle the start I'm going to be

[00:26:55] the one who grabs the race by the scruff of its neck and does the best possible job and even if

[00:27:00] Lance Troll might be impeding him and driving like apparently it was his first go-kart race

[00:27:04] I've got to do Oscar himself he will do whatever he can to get that final edge which is something

[00:27:10] we've seen from Lando sometimes but not always and that's where I feel McLaren are

[00:27:16] right now it's what has made them so good is what is inhibiting them from getting those big wins

[00:27:22] time and again I feel so well I think I should just switch to asking the questions because

[00:27:26] usually when you ask the questions you don't give such elaborate beautiful answers

[00:27:31] but everyone's smarter on a Monday yeah clearly you guys have had a blast in the Indian

[00:27:36] Racing League I can feel the adrenaline still pumping through but Suneram do you have the

[00:27:41] same take that McLaren I mean it's you know this is one of those drivers press conferences where

[00:27:46] one driver just gives a beautiful answer and the other one says nothing to add

[00:27:50] and just leaves it at that but I can't top that no comments I'm sticking with what Somal said

[00:27:56] I think McLaren were done in by the fact that they were leading the race

[00:28:01] they didn't want to be the ones taking the risk and like Oscar said you know

[00:28:06] Shah would have anyway finished third had whether he had pitted or not and that's sort of that just

[00:28:12] did them in but like you're saying here Somal the instinct the the ability to take that risk

[00:28:18] the the guts that you need to back such a decision is what went lacking is what probably

[00:28:24] will come with experience and I think that's just what McLaren are going for so even if they

[00:28:29] don't get the drivers championship they're still learning they're still absorbing

[00:28:33] they're going to be understanding next time they're in a situation like this I don't think they

[00:28:37] will make the same mistake again right and it's beautiful to see a team learn like this like

[00:28:43] the way we saw Max was tapping learning his race craft you know crashing every race when when

[00:28:48] he used to and making a fool out of himself and then suddenly turning up to be the monster that

[00:28:53] just won everything we saw that transition and I'm guessing we're going to see that transition

[00:28:58] I'm very sure we're going to see that transition with McLaren because they've engineered a

[00:29:01] beautiful car and now they're just struggling to match the ambitions and the aspirations that sort of

[00:29:07] come with it I agree and to add to that look at the kind of people who run the top of that team

[00:29:13] Zach Brown is a motorsport marketing head a genius in that regard look at what he's done to

[00:29:20] revolutionize the commercial side of that thing Andreas Teller is an engineering maestro rising

[00:29:25] in from being Fernando's race engineer to now being McLaren's team principal

[00:29:29] he's seen the technical side of the team so well but there are some team principles who hold

[00:29:34] the power dynamic much better like a Moritzio Riva Bene not really engineering smart but

[00:29:40] he has command he holds respect and dignity in that aspect where if he asks the driver to do

[00:29:46] something they will do it out of fear maybe didn't end up very well but a total firm clear

[00:29:52] if Lewis is the man Lewis is the man and that's what we are going for that that killer

[00:29:57] instinct maybe I don't know if this management is the right management maybe it was aimed at

[00:30:03] getting McLaren to the top of the engineering pile which they are right now undoubtedly but that

[00:30:09] that ruthless decision maker in that team I wonder where that person is and we can see that

[00:30:15] with Mercedes we can see that with Red Bull I'm still struggling to see that with

[00:30:21] with McLaren a little bit and also Ferrari now even though Fred's here but again this is

[00:30:26] maybe the next step in the revolutions in the room I'm still a little puzzled by Zach Brown's

[00:30:31] comments from after the race where he said that you know papaya rules we let both our drivers go

[00:30:37] for it we let them fight we let them fight clean and we don't have a number one in the team

[00:30:43] I'm not sure if he's just trying to keep both sides happy because both of them are performing

[00:30:47] exceptionally well this year so that you choose one over the other the other one's

[00:30:50] going to be disheartened and say you know I've done just as well why am I the number two

[00:30:55] but like you said someone needs to make these hard decisions and say you know what

[00:30:59] we're not clearly saying who's the number one or number two but on that day if you are the one

[00:31:04] who's ahead at turn one or a lap one you get the priority and we stick to this order because

[00:31:10] we can maximize points it doesn't necessarily have to be your number one number two thing

[00:31:14] but isn't that what they're doing technically like that's what that's what they sort of have

[00:31:20] in principle but then I'm still surprised I'm still surprised that they let them fight

[00:31:24] at the very front I'm still very surprised that they let them do that yeah yeah and I'm

[00:31:32] actually on the other side of the spectrum I'm not surprised they let them fight especially

[00:31:36] at the start because the start is when everyone's trying to make inroads into your position literally

[00:31:43] or lead or whatever you call it but at some of the other points of the time you know maybe

[00:31:47] they could have swapped I don't know my reading is if we are to have a new driver's champion this

[00:31:53] year it's only going to come via team models period okay with max wish tap and struggling so much

[00:32:00] there is a very high chance that 70 points gap will be nothing if they really were to

[00:32:05] engineer all the wins for Lando Norris but was Norris there I mean beyond the start

[00:32:11] Norris wasn't even in contention for the win for 52 and a half laps of the race so we should just move

[00:32:18] on because the day he is in yeah we can for example discuss Hungary and question them for team

[00:32:23] orders but everything else pretty pointless right because eventually it was Ferrari and Leclerc that

[00:32:29] won not even Red Bull not even Mercedes despite George Russell being third fastest a brilliant

[00:32:35] qualifying lap that's why I'm put it there but had this been Ferrari we would have made a mockery of

[00:32:43] them for days and that is what makes me appreciate Red Bull racing so much and in these aspects

[00:32:50] and again I love that formula one is now a mixture of all three different teams and their

[00:32:55] strengths and their weaknesses so there's no real one perfect even everyone's got their own

[00:33:00] good or bad aspect but in this aspect Red Bull has been so good but the operations today went wrong

[00:33:05] it's a it's a weird essay today but it was yesterday but you have something to add on that

[00:33:10] yeah I have to ask is it papaya rules or mango rules or watermelon rules like I just like

[00:33:20] mango rules yeah I think I'd probably okay I'm gonna take watermelon rules I don't know

[00:33:25] to me these these you know when you corporatize racing so much okay and what does that brown say

[00:33:32] we're going to review Oscar Piazri's lap one pass on Lando Norris Ramesh come on

[00:33:38] that is probably the best pass I've seen this season seriously and he's saying we will see if

[00:33:46] it complies with papaya rules my god what do you mean if it complies a driver season opportunity

[00:33:51] he breaks late he passes someone on the outside and he wins that's all that's all there is to

[00:33:57] it that is what racing is and he gets ample room there as well much like Lando said had I

[00:34:02] break the meter later we would have both crashed but there's a reason why Lando didn't want to

[00:34:07] break a meat a meter later as well he was on the inside he had to break more longer harder

[00:34:13] he had to slow down even more so and he had a second mid-corner twitch in just five corners

[00:34:17] I know I'm breaking my own time limit here and I've got to sleep a few few minutes later according

[00:34:23] to that as a result but in I'm confused Lando said and I quote I think he got too close for comfort

[00:34:30] that word comfort is what's ringing in my head now is there a sense of comfort at the starting

[00:34:36] lap that my teammate will not attack me why is there comfort in formula one

[00:34:44] I think he was just he's Lando's is waiting for McLaren to make a decision he doesn't want to

[00:34:49] publicly put Oscar under the bus and say I was hoping he'd not overtake me I was hoping he backs

[00:34:54] me up and that's actually very nice of him we're not trying to take Lando's pants down guys

[00:34:59] everyone listening in we know the United Kingdom is a big market lots of people listening in

[00:35:04] especially from London but we're not trying to you know put a driver down is he's great

[00:35:08] character he's you know deserves everything that comes his way but he also shouldn't be

[00:35:14] given things on a platter much like several other drivers have been done so in the past

[00:35:18] Vettel took it Schumacher took it Hamilton took it if Lando wants to be a part of those three

[00:35:24] guys you need to take it man this is what what I what I can sense from you I don't know we'll

[00:35:31] see on to Lando Norris's best friend in the paddock max wish tappen

[00:35:37] the telegraph actually quotes Max wish tappen saying he has found what the problem with the

[00:35:45] RB 20 is and he has pointed out that problem and told the engineers go fix that now that's

[00:35:51] really awaits to be seen if that happens because like I said at the start of the episode

[00:35:56] fourth fastest by a distance they're what eight points behind now or just eight

[00:36:02] points ahead in the constructors it's ridiculous just what has happened to Red Bull my favorite

[00:36:07] Red Bull quote from the weekend was when Checo Perez said that I've been facing these problems

[00:36:14] throughout the last eight to ten races and for once now Max is facing those problems as well

[00:36:21] and max was just 0.40 0.040 so four hundredths of a second quicker than Checo Perez and

[00:36:30] qualifying now when last did that happen that Perez was so close to max wish tappen all our friends

[00:36:37] in Mexico we feel for you that changes my perspective on Sergio season so far yeah and they have

[00:36:48] Baku coming up and then Singapore so I pretty much don't see what's happening I think it's

[00:36:52] going to be a three-way battle for constructors like we said and maybe a three-way battle for

[00:37:00] P2 in the drivers championship as well could be Norris Leclerc Piaz 3 it's all going to

[00:37:04] fall somewhere there depending on how the execution is going to be but in the interest

[00:37:09] of Somel's sleep let's move on what's next Somel just one thing to mention on Red Bull

[00:37:15] and many people might be wondering if in case you haven't checked the newspapers and you've

[00:37:20] come to us for your formal information firstly I love you thank you it's our duty to tell you

[00:37:25] what happened to Max apparently there was an engine issue and he says that we might have

[00:37:29] to change up the whole car before we come to Baku extended the problem I don't know but

[00:37:34] that's that's what was apparently also plaguing him so there's the there's the objective

[00:37:41] reasoning for why they weren't very good but the more behind the scenes stuff about

[00:37:45] the card gripping away we spoke to Dr. Helmut Marko on that and he gave us a bit

[00:37:49] of insight on these things as well about how the car is just not feeling the same balance

[00:37:54] since the last few months and that's an episode you can listen to in full on the inside line

[00:37:59] F1 podcast so check out all of our episodes previously and we should now do a quick roundup

[00:38:04] of all the other news stories because we had so much going on apart from this is welcome

[00:38:10] it's yes Franco Collapinto what a debut half a second away from Alexander Albin

[00:38:16] he I think Williams chose the undercut he undercut he undercut five drivers on pace on merit in that

[00:38:24] Williams even though he didn't finish in the points I think it was impressive but like we said in the

[00:38:28] preview Monza is a one place you can impress because it's one of those easier circuits to be at

[00:38:34] and then Kevin Mark Newsen somebody has actually gotten a race ban again and it has to be a

[00:38:42] harsh driver or a former or a future harsh driver like it happened in the case of Roman

[00:38:46] Kuroshow as well so I believe it's going to be Oliver Behrman who then again Sundaram will throw

[00:38:53] up this stat which last non-Red Bull driver drove for two different teams in the same season

[00:38:57] I don't know if you guys know tweeted to us because Behrman drove for Ferrari and Jetta and

[00:39:04] then then Haas could be could be Haas in it yeah who was it I do I'm not even gonna try

[00:39:13] Sundaram's gonna dig through his database he's gonna make a beautiful looking graphic

[00:39:16] he's gonna put it after I get seven hours of sleep yes please

[00:39:20] yeah we're both we were both barely had anything after the street race yesterday

[00:39:25] then then the final point about that wrap up was Alexander Albin he had to score those

[00:39:31] points for Williams he got into Q3 he scored P9 and I think that itself was another beautiful

[00:39:39] delivery and I strongly believe Williams with two competitive drivers are gonna be a headache for all

[00:39:45] the other teams in the midfield out there so that's going to be beautiful Nico Halkenburg fairly

[00:39:50] clumsy onto Yuki Sonoda right normally I don't know if Nico and Kevin which is wearing each

[00:39:57] other's helmets and driving each other's cars with different names because Kevin had a Nico-ish

[00:40:01] race and Nico had a Kevin-ish race and then Daniel Riccardo you know that move on the

[00:40:06] breaking in the entry of Asgari opening lap on Halkenburg very pure Halkenburg beautiful catch

[00:40:13] but did you guys see that Riccardo was serving a five second time penalty and his

[00:40:19] mechanic touched the front wing by mistake and then he had to serve a 10 second stop and go

[00:40:25] penalty the most gruesome in race penalties any driver can get which are these stop and go penalties

[00:40:32] but did we miss out on anything else any did anyone miss Logan Sargent?

[00:40:37] The sequence of one thing yeah we missed Logan Sargent why today today is not maybe the right

[00:40:42] day to tell you more about why we miss him but the sequence of events was interesting

[00:40:47] Nico Halkenburg got pushed wide by Riccardo on the breaking and then he took out the

[00:40:52] anger of one Alpha Tauri on the other Alpha Tauri by hitting Yuki's nose like I see a blue and

[00:40:56] white car I'm gonna absolutely ram into it and I'll figure out later who it was incredible that's

[00:41:02] that's what anger management is like but ending on a little piece of trivia I just suddenly

[00:41:06] remembered the question Kunal you asked which who was the last non-dead bull driver to drive

[00:41:11] for two different teams in a single season you don't have to look beyond 2020 if you can

[00:41:16] remember Halkenburg no a certain George Russell oh yes yeah oh god what a that's such an anticlimax

[00:41:27] of her yeah but you're right yeah yeah you're right and then Oscar Piastri gave us a t-shirt

[00:41:32] quote whenever it is that we launch our merchandise which has been in the works for three years

[00:41:38] I was not surprised you stayed out I was surprised that he survived

[00:41:44] that's what he told Shal Leclerc and I think they were just so puzzled everyone was puzzled

[00:41:50] because throughout the entire race the discussion was is it a two lap race is sorry two stop or one

[00:41:55] stop or two stop or one stop or and this is the moment the final moment of this episode where

[00:42:00] someone's like this has to end now we've crossed the 42nd minute mark but we've had a great race

[00:42:06] a great episode and this Thursday there's gonna be talk to Helmut Marco second episode talking

[00:42:11] about 20 years of Red Bull racing yes it's gonna get nice and spicy yeah we're gonna tell you

[00:42:17] about one driver that Helmut Marco really wanted in Red Bull but never could sign one or two

[00:42:22] one or two two of them two of them yes indeed but all of that and more will come shortly folks

[00:42:29] we've got to say goodbye unfortunately a little bit earlier than usual we're just saying quite

[00:42:34] something now that it's 42 minutes in the episode but we could talk about it for an hour

[00:42:38] and a half and we have done for the last few races as well and we will continue to do so

[00:42:42] in the other ones as well when we have a lot more time on offer but thank you for listening everyone

[00:42:47] I hope you've had a great weekend watching the Formula 1 action and if you get the chance

[00:42:52] just even if you're not in India just check out India's first ever night street race

[00:42:56] we're joining the likes of Jeddah the likes of Singapore and the likes of one other city

[00:43:02] last week is hosting a night street race very cool event you can check it out that'll be

[00:43:06] quite awesome subscribe to the Indian look at me with my broadcast voice on subscribe to the

[00:43:12] inside line f1 podcast and we'll see you in a couple of days folks bye bye